1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automobile instrument panel structure in which an upper meter and a lower meter are respectively supported on an upper front part and a lower rear part of an instrument panel main body, and a panel is detachably fixed to the instrument panel main body so as to surround the perimeter of the upper meter and the perimeter of the lower meter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-168400 discloses an arrangement in which an entertainment display for displaying information such as road map information that contains a large amount of information but has low urgency, is disposed in a central position in the vehicle width direction, and a driving display for displaying information such as route guide information, urgent road traffic information, or disabled persons contact information that contains a small amount of information but has high urgency, is disposed at a high position on a driver's side relative to the entertainment display, thereby enhancing the visibility of the driving display.
Since the line of sight of the driver is directed substantially toward the front of the vehicle while the driver drivies it, if a meter is disposed at a position that is laterally displaced from the front of the driver, the amount of movement of the line of sight of the driver between when looking at the view in front and when looking at the meter increases, leading to a problem that the visibility of the meter is degraded. In particular, if the meter is disposed at a position close to the driver, the time taken for focusing the eyes between when looking at the view in front and when looking at the meter becomes long, leading to a possibility that the visibility of the meter might be further degraded.